I just received this email from the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry regarding PUA.
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We’re continuing to enhance our Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) system since it became fully operational. We truly appreciate your patience and understanding as we work through this new program and system. We wanted to update you, our PUA customer, on a few items.
For PUA claimants still experiencing issues filing for backdated weekly certifications, we are working to ensure you will be able to file for those weeks. If you have not informed us about backdating issues regarding your claim, please reach out to us at [ucPUA@pa.gov](mailto:ucPUA@pa.gov) with your full name and Claimant ID number.
If you have already notified us, know that we are trying to get to your questions as quickly as possible. Please do not send multiple emails as this may delay resolution of your inquiry.
In the meantime, make sure you continue to file your weekly certifications every week (Sunday through Saturday) to receive your PUA payments moving forward for those weeks.
It has come to our attention that some PUA claimants are receiving their first payment via paper check through the U.S. Postal Service. In an effort to get these payments to you as quickly as possible, we're releasing them rather than waiting for the Direct Deposit or Debit Card to be initiated. This will only impact your first payment. Future payments will be made based on your payment selection.
If you continue to receive a paper check but selected a different payment option, please confirm that you have selected either Direct Deposit or Debit Card and provided the required information.
Additionally, the Financial Determination letter you received in the PUA system had two pieces of information that were inaccurate. Our PUA phone line (1-855-284-8545), which was listed on the letter is not currently active. We’ll announce the exact date soon on our website at www.uc.pa.gov/PUA and on social media. In addition, the email to reach our Unemployment Compensation Appeals team was incorrect. You can reach our Appeals team at [ucAppeals@pa.gov](mailto:ucAppeals@pa.gov). We apologize for any frustration this caused.
We have created PUA System FAQs and will continue to add to them.
L&I also announced that the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program is now available. If you qualify for a PEUC, you must take the PEUC claim over Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), per federal guidance, and therefore you must stop filing for weeks of PUA benefits. Please review our CARES Act information to understand your rights to all CARES Act benefits, including the $600 weekly Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation benefit. It is fraudulent to accept payment on two different programs for the same claim week.
Thank you again for your patience as we finish implementing the new federal CARES Act unemployment benefits programs.
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We’re continuing to enhance our Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) system since it became fully operational. We truly appreciate your patience and understanding as we work through this new program and system. We wanted to update you, our PUA customer, on a few items.
For PUA claimants still experiencing issues filing for backdated weekly certifications, we are working to ensure you will be able to file for those weeks. If you have not informed us about backdating issues regarding your claim, please reach out to us at [ucPUA@pa.gov](mailto:ucPUA@pa.gov) with your full name and Claimant ID number.
If you have already notified us, know that we are trying to get to your questions as quickly as possible. Please do not send multiple emails as this may delay resolution of your inquiry.
In the meantime, make sure you continue to file your weekly certifications every week (Sunday through Saturday) to receive your PUA payments moving forward for those weeks.
It has come to our attention that some PUA claimants are receiving their first payment via paper check through the U.S. Postal Service. In an effort to get these payments to you as quickly as possible, we're releasing them rather than waiting for the Direct Deposit or Debit Card to be initiated. This will only impact your first payment. Future payments will be made based on your payment selection.
If you continue to receive a paper check but selected a different payment option, please confirm that you have selected either Direct Deposit or Debit Card and provided the required information.
Additionally, the Financial Determination letter you received in the PUA system had two pieces of information that were inaccurate. Our PUA phone line (1-855-284-8545), which was listed on the letter is not currently active. We’ll announce the exact date soon on our website at www.uc.pa.gov/PUA and on social media. In addition, the email to reach our Unemployment Compensation Appeals team was incorrect. You can reach our Appeals team at [ucAppeals@pa.gov](mailto:ucAppeals@pa.gov). We apologize for any frustration this caused.
We have created PUA System FAQs and will continue to add to them.
L&I also announced that the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program is now available. If you qualify for a PEUC, you must take the PEUC claim over Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), per federal guidance, and therefore you must stop filing for weeks of PUA benefits. Please review our CARES Act information to understand your rights to all CARES Act benefits, including the $600 weekly Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation benefit. It is fraudulent to accept payment on two different programs for the same claim week.
Thank you again for your patience as we finish implementing the new federal CARES Act unemployment benefits programs.